Barry McGuire "California Dreamin'"

[Vivaldinization]

Now, I know that Barry's voice is heard briefly at the beginning of the Mamas and Papas' California Dreamin', but dear lord...I had never actually heard HIS VERSION before. IMO, it's pretty abysmal...and why would they use what was essentially the same backing track (WITH female vocals already in place) on both versions?

-D

[Steve Hoffman]

Well, it was recorded for him, with him, first. The Mamas were singing backup for him.

One night at the studio, they were goofing and decided to do their own lead on there to the old backing track. Just a lark... It took off and the rest is history.

Now you can understand why the backing music to that song sounds a bit, er, funky. It was redubbed from the Barry M. tape and then bounced about a zillion times again.

Great song though...

[Vivaldinization]

Interesting. So has nobody thought to synch up multitracks and *finally* create a decent stereo mix of the Mamas and the Papas version? Beh.


Thanks for the info, Steve! Still, it seems an odd choice for Barry; the song isn't terribly suited to his range NOR his apocalyptic delivery.

-D

[Michael]

No Multi-Tracks Available...